Configuring Default Static Routes on Cisco Routers

Objective

The objective of this lab exercise is to learn and understand how to configure default static routes on Cisco IOS routers. By default, no default routes exist on Cisco IOS routers.

Purpose

Static default route configuration is a fundamental skill for network engineers. Default routes are used to forward traffic to destinations not in the router's routing table. They can also forward all external traffic, such as Internet traffic, to an Internet Service Provider. As a Cisco engineer or CCNA candidate, you must know how to configure static default routes.

Lab Topology

Use the following topology to complete this lab exercise:

Image 1

Task 1: Configure Hostnames

Objective: Set hostnames on R1 and R2 as illustrated in the topology.

Configuration:

R1#configure terminal
R1(config)#hostname R1
R1(config)#end

R2#configure terminal
R2(config)#hostname R2
R2(config)#end

Task 2: Configure Serial Connection

Objective: Configure a back-to-back Serial connection between R1 and R2. Set the DCE interface Serial0/0/0 in R1 to provide clocking to R2 at a clock speed of 250 Kbps.

Configuration:

R1#configure terminal
R1(config)#interface Serial0/0/0
R1(config-if)#clock rate 250000
R1(config-if)#exit

Task 3: Configure IP Addresses

Objective: Configure IP addresses 192.168.254.1/30 on R1 and 192.168.254.2/30 on R2's Serial0/0/0 interfaces. Also, configure the Loopback interfaces on R1 as illustrated in the topology.

Configuration:

R1#configure terminal
R1(config)#interface Serial0/0/0
R1(config-if)#ip address 192.168.254.1 255.255.255.252
R1(config-if)#no shutdown
R1(config-if)#exit
R1(config)#interface Loopback100
R1(config-if)#ip address 172.18.0.1 255.255.254.0
R1(config-if)#exit
R1(config)#interface Loopback101
R1(config-if)#ip address 10.100.100.1 255.255.255.192
R1(config-if)#exit
R1(config)#interface Loopback102
R1(config-if)#ip address 192.168.30.1 255.255.255.248
R1(config-if)#exit
R1#end

R2#configure terminal
R2(config)#interface Serial0/0/0
R2(config-if)#ip address 192.168.254.2 255.255.255.252
R2(config-if)#no shutdown
R2(config-if)#end

Task 4: Configure Default Static Route

Objective: On R2, configure a static default route pointing to R1. Ping each Loopback interface configured on R1 from R2 to verify your static route configuration.

Configuration and Verification

R2#configure terminal
R2(config)#ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 Serial0/0/0
R2(config)#end

R2#show ip route
Codes: C - connected, S - static, I - IGRP, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP
       D - EIGRP, EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area
       N1 - OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 - OSPF NSSA external type 2
       E1 - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF external type 2, E - EGP
       i - IS-IS, L1 - IS-IS level-1, L2 - IS-IS level-2, ia - IS-IS inter area
       * - candidate default, U - per-user static route, o - ODR
       P - periodic downloaded static route

Gateway of last resort is 0.0.0.0 to network 0.0.0.0

     192.168.254.0/30 is subnetted, 1 subnets
C       192.168.254.0 is directly connected, Serial0/0/0
S*   0.0.0.0/0 is directly connected, Serial0/0/0

Note: The default route should appear as a candidate default route in the routing table.

R2#ping 172.18.0.1

Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 172.18.0.1, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 11/13/15 ms

R2#ping 10.100.100.1

Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 10.100.100.1, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 10/14/23 ms

R2#ping 192.168.30.1

Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 192.168.30.1, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 12/15/23 ms

Cisco Packet Tracer file:
Load and open the .pkt Lab file in Cisco Packet Tracer from here: Configuring_Default_Static_Routes.pkt